CS 241 - DFA Description File Format
A .dfa file represents a DFA by describing, in order, the
alphabet, the states, the initial state, the final states, and
the transitions. The format for each is as follows:
- Alphabet: A line containing n, the number
of symbols in the alphabet, followed by n lines, each
containing an alphabet symbol. Each alphabet symbol must be a
string of printable characters, not including whitespace.
- States: A line containing m, the number of
states, followed by m lines, each containing the name
of a state. Each state name must be a string of letters
and/or digits, but no spaces or other characters.
- Initial state: A line containing the name of the
initial state for the DFA. The initial state must be one of
the states listed in States above.
- Accepting states: A line containing q, the
number of accepting states, followed by q lines, each
containing the name of a accepting state. Each accepting state must
be one of the states listed in States above.
- Transitions: A line containing r, the
number of (non-error) transitions in the transition function
δ, followed by r lines, each containing three strings
st1, sym, st2 separated by spaces. Each
such line indicates a transition from state st1 on
symbol sym to state st2; that is,
δ(st1,sym)=st2. st1 and st2
must be listed in States and sym must be
listed in Alphabet, above. It is not necessary to
specify transitions on every state and letter pair; omitted
transitions are assumed to go to an implicit error state.
The file mod.dfa contains a description
of the following DFA, which recognizes binary integers that have
no useless leading zeroes and are divisible by 3:
